1. Characterization of Vaccination Policies for Attendance and Employment at Day/Summer Camps in New York State.
- Author
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Prescott, William A., Violanti, Kelsey C., and Fusco, Nicholas M.
- Subjects
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CAMPS , *AGE distribution , *CHI-squared test , *CHILDREN'S health , *DOCUMENTATION , *DPT vaccines , *EMPLOYMENT , *FISHER exact test , *HEPATITIS B vaccines , *IMMUNIZATION , *MEASLES vaccines , *HEALTH policy , *MEDICAL protocols , *MUMPS vaccines , *WHOOPING cough vaccines , *POLIOMYELITIS vaccines , *RUBELLA vaccines , *SURVEYS , *ADOLESCENT health , *TELEPHONES , *EMAIL , *CHICKENPOX vaccines , *HAEMOPHILUS disease vaccines - Abstract
Introduction: New York state requires day/summer camps to keep immunization records for all enrolled campers and strongly recommends requiring vaccination for all campers and staff. The objective of this study was to characterize immunization requirements/recommendations for children/adolescents enrolled in and staff employed at day/summer camps in New York state. Methods: An electronic hyperlink to a 9-question survey instrument was distributed via e-mail to 178 day/summer camps located in New York state cities with a population size greater than 100 000 people. A follow-up telephone survey was offered to nonresponders. The survey instrument included questions pertaining to vaccination documentation policies for campers/staff and the specific vaccines that the camp required/recommended. Fisher's exact and Chi-square tests were used to analyze categorical data. Results: Sixty-five day/summer camps responded to the survey (36.5% response rate): 48 (73.8%) and 23 (41.8%) camps indicated having a policy/procedure for documenting vaccinations for campers and staff, respectively. Camps that had a policy/procedure for campers were more likely to have a policy/procedure for staff (P =.0007). Age-appropriate vaccinations that were required/recommended for campers by at least 80% of camps included: measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP), hepatitis B, inactivated/oral poliovirus (IPV/OPV), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and varicella. Age-appropriate vaccinations that were required/recommended for staff by at least 80% of camps included: DTaP, hepatitis B, IPV/OPV, MMR, meningococcus, varicella, Hib, and tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap). Conclusion: Vaccination policies at day/summer camps in New York state appear to be suboptimal. Educational outreach may encourage camps to strengthen their immunization policies, which may reduce the transmission of vaccine-preventable diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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